Pray According to God’s Will
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins..
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
In the sermon on the mount Jesus said; Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works? And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness! (MKJV) Everyone who is serious about following Jesus must ask what is God’s will and how to do it.
God’s will is praying Psalms
Ephesians 5:17-19 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
The word of God is self-explained enough here, the will of God is to be filled with the Spirit, and the way to be filled with the Spirit is to speak to our self in psalms.
The will of God in Christ Jesus
Another verse about God’s Will is written in First Thessalonians 5:16-18;
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
The detailed methods and instructions of how to practice are all written in the book Psalms.
God’s will is you become holy
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: (1Ts4:1) Sanctification means to be made holy, And it is written; Be holy because I am holy.
God’s will is to do good
It is written; For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men (1Pe2:15 NKJV)
What to preach
Before left the earth, Jesus commanded his disciples in the last chapter of Luke; And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. If no repentance can there still be remission of sins?
It is written; If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; (1Pe4:11) It’s written in present tens, it means what God is telling us today. Jesus set an example, when he spoke to the Samaritan woman in John 4 everything he said is the oracles of God for that day, For he said; I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. (Jhn8:28)
It is not man made theology or doctrine or opinions. It is in seeking God for daily bread so that we may receive a word or revelation from the Lord. Paul summarized in First Corinthians, How is it then, brothers? when you come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to edifying. (14:26) More details click my recent post Oracles of God
The cost of following Jesus
Jesus said; If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
How to pick up one’s own cross
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom12:1)
The scripture is telling us; without offering one’s body as a living sacrifice he can’t serve God, nor can he know the will of God. In today’s language, it is giving up one’s freedom to live for himself and willing to become slave to God’s righteousness. That is to deny or abandon his own plan and take up his cross — fight against sin, this is as the scripture said; “holy acceptable unto God”.
The Lord’s prayer.
The lord’s prayer is all about God’s will be done on earth. God has detailed plan for each of his servant, whoever serves him, or live for him would have to ask: what is your plan for me today? To ask the Lord; Give us this day our daily bread, this daily bread is God’s will/plan today for me to do.
Jesus described his daily bread in John 4:34 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” (NKJV) Whether it’s the same as yesterday or different each day all depends on God’s plan. He did everything according to the Father’s plan as he said in John8:28; Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. The key is “do nothing of myself.”
Spiritual food = doing God’s will
The will of God written in the bible is the principle and summery, but details on how to carry it out in our daily life was given by examples, such as Acts chapter 10:9; The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. (NKJV) He must prayed for the daily bread and was answered by a vision, so he can know what to do for that day. In doing so Peter carried out God’s will everyday.
Is it possible that Peter’s prayer was complicated and hard to learn? Not so, psalm taught us how to pray; Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: (143:8) Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. (5:8) Those who truly desire to serve God will ask him to “teach me” and “lead me” on their daily activities，for they want to live for Christ.
The Lord taught Peter how to do God’s will three times in verse 13; What God has made clean, you do not call common. Peter obeyed, he gave up his own understanding of the scripture. I suspect that I have missed God’s will a lot more than I actually did. We all have to know this; God’s will is not man’s will, God’s way is not man’s way. More details click my recent Doing our Father’s will and Daily Bread